Early Saturday morning, with a camera in one hand and probably a margarita in the other, Chief Petty Officer Aaron Green said, he’ll be cheering for American riders cycling through the Naples area on the famed Giro d’Italia race.
The race, the Italian version of the more famous Tour de France, will wind its way through the Neapolitan suburbs of Bagnoli and through Pozzuoli, Licola and Varcaturo before heading to the province of Caserta and into Frosinone.
"I always dreamed I’d be able to race with Italians," said Green, a cycling fanatic who was active on a Hawaiian cycling team from 2004 to 2006. "Cycling in Italy is huge. And the Giro d’Italia is like the Mount Everest of cycling.
"Well, no, the Tour de France is like the Mount Everest. Giro d’Italia is like the Mount Kilimanjaro of cycling," he said.
The 2,147-mile Giro d’Italia (Tour of Italy) celebrates its 100th year and features well-known American cyclist Lance Armstrong. Other American athletes include Tom Danielson, Tyler Farrar, Chris Horner, Ted King, Levi Leipheimer, Jason McCartney, Danny Pate, Christian Vandevelde and David Zabriskie, according to the tour’s official Web site.
Several roads around Naples and Caserta provinces will be closed to traffic because of the race, including the heavily traveled Domitiana and the SS 7, a main thoroughfare to and from the U.S. Navy’s support site in Gricignano.
The race began in Venice on May 9 and is slated to finish in Rome on Sunday.
"There will be riders from every country, … and quite a few Americans. I want to be there to cheer them on," Green said.
The riders should be circling in the Pozzuoli area about 12:30 p.m. Saturday as they pedal north along the western coastal roads to hit Licola about 12:45 p.m. and Varcaturo 10 minutes later, according to a circulated timetable. Cyclists should hit the SS 7 about 1 p.m.
Saturday’s portion of the race ends in Anagni, roughly two hours north of Naples.
"They’re going to go by; it’ll last two minutes, if that, and be over, but it’s worth it," Green said.
